By SAM LANCE
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Under coach Nate Oats, Alabama has turned into a top destination for recruits. The Crimson Tide have put together a top-16 class every season since Oats has taken over in 2019-20, and his 2022 class ended at No. 3 overall. Oats has also landed a total of five five-star recruits.
It hasn’t always been this way for Alabama basketball, though. Before Oats, Alabama was in the top-10 of recruiting class rankings just twice. Since 2011, when class rankings were first introduced by 247Sports, Alabama had an average class ranking of 35 before Oats. For comparison, Oats has an average class ranking of 10.4 through five classes.
But how has Oats been able to do it? How has he been able to attract top tier talent at a school that was previously regarded as just a football school?
“We’ve had one of the more – what would I say – modern offenses, one of the more recruitable two offenses in the country over the last five years,” Oats said. “We’ve done a study. We improved our guys’ draft stock more than anybody in the country than anybody has over the last five years we’ve been there. We have the NBA deal, more lottery picks than anybody in the country, have the offense going.”
Alabama has had six players — Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney, J.D. Davidson, Joshua Primo, Herb Jones and Kira Lewis Jr. — drafted since Oats has taken over. Three of those players (Miller, Primo and Lewis Jr.) were taken in the lottery. Both Jones and Clowney were ranked well outside the top-50 prospects coming out of high school and weren’t necessarily regarded as NBA guys. But Oats has put them in the league.
“We’ve got an offense, we put guys in the pros,” Oats said. “Now we’re competing on a national stage in a Final Four to win a national championship.”
Alabama has won a lot under Oats, including two SEC regular season titles and two SEC Tournament titles. But still, there was a Final Four missing from the resume. That’s no longer the case, as Oats has Alabama playing in its first Final Four in school history.
“There’s not a lot missing in the recruiting pitch now,” Oats said. “We’ll see what type of dividends we can gain from it moving forward this spring and summer.”
Alabama will tipoff vs. UConn on Saturday, April 6, at approximately 7:49 p.m. ET.
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